


Sparks are Whirling Faster

by cherie_morte



Series: college-knotting!Verse [1]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alpha Jensen, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Breeding, Knotting, M/M, Omega Jared, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-05 20:40:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11021175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherie_morte/pseuds/cherie_morte
Summary: As a senior in high school, Jared decides to sneak into a college party with his friends. He knows the laws and he knows the danger—he's heard of Omegas going into heat and losing control the first time they meet an Alpha. He goes anyway, convinced he's not an Omega because he doesn't fit the bill. It's not until the morning after that he realizes just how wrong he was. And now he can't get Jensen, the Alpha who rescued him, out of his head.





	Sparks are Whirling Faster

**Author's Note:**

> Repost of my 2011 [kink_bigbang](http://kink-bigbang.livejournal.com/) originally posted [here](http://infatuated-ink.livejournal.com/66906.html). There is an amazing podfic by [chemm80](http://chemm80.livejournal.com/) that can be found [here](http://chemm80.livejournal.com/204415.html). Podfic cover art (used as the banner here) is by [laisserais](http://laisserais.dreamwidth.org/).

There's really no way to tell this part without making Jared look like an idiot.

Jared _is_ an idiot. To be fair, he's 17 years old, so everyone around him is an idiot. All his friends are also idiots. And they get together to form a band of idiots so idiotic that no stray logical thought through the back of Jared's brain (the grown up part, the part Jared tries very hard to suppress) can scarcely hope to penetrate the force field of their idiocy and make it into consideration.

These idiots make plans together. Predictably, they are really idiotic plans. And Jared is 100% on board.

Sandy's brother's frat is having a party tonight, and after four years of begging and pleading, he's finally agreed to turn a blind eye, let a few of them slip in. They're actually going to a college party.

There are laws against this. There are good, good reasons for these laws. But Sandy's brother waited until her senior year for a reason—all the girls have been checked out and put on meds if needed. There's only Jared left unchecked; guys don't have to go through tests until they turn 18 unless there's a known Alpha for them to cross paths with. It isn't worth the government money to check before then—men don't go into heat unless they come into contact with a fully matured Alpha. The statistical probability of an Omega under the age of 18 and an Alpha meeting—as long as everyone obeys the laws and doesn’t cross age lines—is about as good as the chance of finding some frat boy with enough of a weakness for his little sister's puppy eyes to risk the jail time for letting her and a few of her idiot (Jared wants it on the record that they're idiots) high school friends cross that line.

Tonight is a perfect storm and everyone knows that and Jared should just stay home. But the danger, the rarity of the opportunity, that's what makes it cool to begin with. Besides, everyone is always saying there's no way in hell Jared's an Omega, and, even if maybe a part of him suspects he is, it's true that the odds are not great. Everyone can't possibly be wrong.

Everyone except obnoxiously clear-headed Genevieve, of course, who always dampens Jared's life with logic.

"Jay," she says for the thousandth time, "do not do this. It could ruin your life."

"It could ruin all our lives," Jared replies, passing from his dresser to the mirror and pointedly avoiding eye contact. "You're still going."

"Yeah, I'm medicated." She rolls onto her back, Jared's spare pillow hugged to her chest. "And I'm still not convinced I'm happy about it. We're all going to be drinking, we could all make stupid mistakes, but, Jared. At least our stupid mistakes will just be for tonight."

"Nah," Jared says. He lifts a blue shirt against his green shirt and frowns. "You guys could always get knocked up." He turns to give Genevieve a shit-eating grin. "I'm definitely not getting knocked up. I'm probably not going into heat, either. Blue or green?"

"Red," she says, sighing as she stands and heads for the closet. She walks back over to Jared, handing him the perfect shirt, the one he never would have thought to pick, and suddenly he remembers why he keeps her around. Then she looks up at him with her worried, I've-got-your-number look and makes him forget all over again. "Do you _really_ believe that?"

"Fuck off," Jared grumbles, snatching the shirt too hard. "Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I'm—"

"You're telling this to a lesbian Omega?" she replies. "That's not why I was suggesting it, and you know it. You don't have to go and treat _me_ like an asshole just because you know where I'm coming from and it scares you."

Jared tugs the green shirt he's wearing off and begins to button up the red one, ignoring the way Genevieve is trying to catch his eyes in the mirror.

She puts her hand on his shoulder. "Jay, there are worse things to be."

"Maybe to you," Jared replies, leaning into her. He lets the fight go out of his tone, accepts that Genevieve can see through him, is always going to see through him, and right now that's really what he needs. "You're a highly evolved baby making machine. All being an Omega means to you is that you don't have to get your period and if you ever decide to try having kids, you'll need to spend almost no time with icky man germs before it works. _If_ I'm one—which I'm _not_ —it would mean I'm a freak. An embarrassment. And no one is ever going to—"

"Love me," Genevieve finishes, throwing her arms dramatically in the air.

Jared turns on her, taking advantage of the off-guard stance to dig his fingers into her exposed sides. She immediately falls back, giggling and dragging Jared with her, and they collapse onto his bed still laughing. They spend another five minutes skirmishing. Jared is merciless in his attack, and Genevieve is unafraid to bite, flail, and generally maim her way from his grasp. Then Jared's mother walks in with a basket of laundry and they freeze.

She stands in the doorway a few seconds, eyes roving over their messy tangle, ragged breathing, and lopsided smiles before she shakes her head and continues what she came in to do. "You're the least gay gay son in the history of mankind, Jared," his mother says.

"What about me, Mrs. P?" Genevieve asks, sitting up and tugging her shirt back into place.

"It goes without saying, dear." She stops at the door, one hand on the knob, and raises an eyebrow. "The fact that I have a daughter-in-law at all makes you the straightest lesbian around."

Genevieve grins. "Aww, you know we're not holding the wedding until Jared's inherited the family farm."

"Assuming you don't find someone better," his mother says. "Which is unlikely."

"Hey!" Jared replies. "Thanks a lot, mom."

"I'm sorry, honey. You just leave your dirty socks _everywhere_."

The door closes behind her and Jared falls back into his pillow. "Even my mother doesn't think I'm a catch."

"She's got jacked standards," Genevieve says, patting Jared on the chest. "I mean, who keeps track of socks, anyway?"

He laughs, but after a few minutes they settle down. Genevieve is quiet next to him, and Jared turns onto his side to face her. "Gen, I don't want to be one. That's…a part of me is hoping I'll go to this party and nothing will happen and I can finally stop wondering. My birthday's not for months, I can't stand living like this much longer."

"But you might find out the opposite," she says. "And if you do, this is _not_ how you want to find out."

"Ah, what's the difference? If I'm an Omega, then it's going to happen one way or another."

"That's not true," she says. "It could be nice, if you let it happen the right way."

Jared scoffs. Sure, that happens in movies all the time. The degree to which these genetic mutations have been played up and romanticized is frankly pretty outrageous. He had to sit through all his friends crying on their twelfth birthdays, before they really even knew what knotting entailed, because none of them were going to get to experience love at first knot like so-and-so heroine from this-or-that chickflick. He's had to watch through high school as girls gave Genevieve nasty looks, because she lucked out, and she's _not even going to appreciate it properly_.

Jared knows there's a reason for that, knows how much good the movies did toward preventing discrimination against Alphas and Omegas when they suddenly started popping up and no one knew how to deal with them. But he's heard too many horror stories about much more likely scenarios. The ones where _he said he loved me so I let him_ and every possible nightmare stemmed from that. Alphas can run around and fuck all the Omegas they want—it's the Omegas who get hooked on their first Alpha's scent.

Hell, Jared knows one of them personally. His mom's best friend picked up and left her husband and kids two years ago because her first knot passed through town, and she showed up again six months later more wrecked than anyone Jared's ever seen. He's given up on romantic possibilities.

"All male Omegas are good for is bending over and saying please to their rapists," Jared says. And he sounds exactly like the jerks at school—the guys who gather around and mock and profess that there's no way they're some bitch Omega and hope that if they're loud enough, no one will notice they can't make eye contact. They're all running scared. Jared just wants to get it over with.

"You try too hard to be a douchebag, Jared, and one day you're gonna succeed," Genevieve snaps. "And I still don't think you should come tonight."

"What if he's not an Alpha? Can I come then?"

Genevieve smacks him lazily on the stomach. "You know what I meant, doofus."

"You're a doofus," Jared replies.

"Mature," says Genevieve.

"You know it, baby." Jared smiles. "You'll still marry me even if tonight proves to be a terrible decision, right?"

Genevieve sighs.

Tonight was an _awesome_ idea. Fuck all the worries that nearly kept Jared home, fuck the shit the other guys at school talk about being an Omega. Maybe Jared is one, but he doesn't care. He loves it.

The Alpha pushes him a little too roughly into a wall, but Jared doesn't care. Doesn't care. He doesn't care about anything except the smell of the guy sucking at his neck and the unbelievable shock of heat it's sending through him.

He needs to get fucked. He needs to get knotted. He needs this Alpha, whoever he is, he needs it. He wants it. God, he wants it.

He mumbles something to this effect and the Alpha laughs against his neck. "Yeah, you want it, you little slut," he says. "You're gonna beg for my knot, huh?"

Deep down, Jared wants to laugh. Wants to tell the guy to go to Hell. Wants to have the presence of mind to let this Alpha know how cheesy he sounds and that even on a slut like him, those lines aren't going to work.

But instead he whimpers and thrusts against the guy and the lines are working, turning him on so much he can feel something leaking down the back of his leg, and he distantly realizes that it's him. That he's turned on and _this_ is how his body tells him so. It's disgusting, Jared is repulsive. But, well, the Alpha doesn't seem to mind.

He pulls Jared away from the wall and begins to drag him toward a hall, and Jared watches the long-haired back of his head and thinks of how weird it is to be manhandled by someone so much smaller than him.

_Doesn't matter_ , Jared reminds himself. _This is it for you._

He's going to be following shady Alphas—this one in particular—around for the rest of his life. It twists his stomach a little, but he's still trotting loyally behind like an excited puppy.

They pause for a moment and Jared gets another wave of the Alpha's scent. It smells stronger now, maybe because he's had more time to get turned on, and better, too. So much better. He didn't think it could be better, didn't think he could be more mindlessly turned on, but, Jesus, there it is.

Jared doesn't know why they stopped, and he's not happy about it. He wants to get to the nearest bedroom as soon as fucking possible and get good and full. He crowds against the Alpha's back, taking advantage of his greater height to press his face into the man's neck, lick at the sweat there.

The guy makes a surprised sound, almost a gurgle, and pushes back into Jared. Jared doesn't even see the other man standing in front of them until he talks. All he wants is the Alpha, this asshole needs to get the fuck out of their way.

"Where you crazy kids going?" the man asks.

"Pretty obvious, ain't it?" the Alpha replies. "Found myself a pretty little piece of Omega ass to fuck. Gonna knot the heat right out of him."

"Yeah, I don't think so," the guy answers.

Jared lifts his head and lets out an actual, honest-to-God growl. Jared's so far out of control, he doesn't even find the response alarming. Who the fuck is this guy to get between him and his knot?

"What, are you jealous?" The Alpha laughs. "We can share him. Hell, you can even go first. Don't think this one's ever gotten taken care of before. Bet he'll be happy to let us both knot him all we want, isn’t that right?"

Jared nods. He'll agree to anything right now. He's so wet. He's so ready. God, he just wants to get fucked.

"Dude, are you crazy? Look at him, he's a kid. He's going into fucking _heat_ right now, he does not want it."

The Alpha throws his head back, brings Jared forward a little and presses his hands to Jared's pants. "I don't know," he says. "Feels like he wants it pretty bad to me."

Jared gasps, grinding back against the much-too-light pressure. Jesus, he never thought he'd get this turned on just from having someone graze his ass, but it's better than any handjob or blowjob he's ever gotten. If Jared isn't a slut yet, he's definitely making plans to be.

"You're sick," the other guy says. "Back off, okay?"

"You back off," the Alpha says. "I saw him first, you're not chasing me away from my good time."

Jared groans. "Need it," he begs. He looks at the man standing in his way and begs. "Please, let us—I need it."

The Alpha smiles. "Hear that, Jenny? He needs it."

'Jenny' doesn't budge. "All that kid needs is for someone to call his parents to come get him."

"Oh, aren't you noble?" the Alpha mutters. "C'mon, baby," he says, pulling on Jared's hand. "Let's go."

Jared steps forward, but the other man puts a hand on his Alpha's chest. "Chris, I'm not trying to start a fight here. But seriously. Back off."

Chris, Jared's Alpha is apparently a Chris, which is as good as any other name, Jared supposes. He doesn't care about stupid details like that. He knows he will in a few minutes, that this guy is going to put his dick in Jared and suddenly all Jared will be able to think about is Chris, Chris, Chris, but right now he just wants to get there.

"You just want him for yourself," the Alpha says. "Think I can't see that?"

The other guy makes good on his promise then and punches Chris right in the face so hard the Alpha reels back, a hand coming up to clutch at what must be a black eye. Jared thinks that was a very stupid idea. Who would pick a fight with an Alpha—especially an Alpha already pumped full of hormones? Sure, Chris isn't huge, but he's got the Alpha swagger, and Jared knows that comes with a pretty inherent ability to win a fight, even against Betas much bigger than themselves.

Chris returns the punch, but the guy manages to catch his fist and sock him another one, first in the face, then in the stomach. The second hit makes Chris bowl over and cry out, and when he manages to straighten up, he looks from Jared to the mystery guy with an expression of pure hatred before he runs off into the crowd. Jared's amazed by the turn of events, by the fact that the room is so loud and so crowded that it all went on with almost no notice from the people around them.

The smell doesn’t diminish, which means Jared is no better prepared for critical thinking. He whines with disappointment, and the jerk who just chased his fuck away takes a tentative step forward. Jared's entire body shudders as he approaches, as he wraps one hand around Jared's forearm to steady him. The smell gets _stronger_. That unbelievably sweet second wave Jared thought was Chris suddenly makes sense. Jared's brain isn't firing at full-capacity, but this is relevant to his priorities at the moment so he manages to figure it out. This guy is an Alpha, too. Hope is not lost.

"Hey, I'm Jensen," he says. "Are you okay?"

"Jensen," Jared gasps. He launches forward, grabs Jensen's shirt to drag him in as close as he can get. "Jensen, fuck me. Please fuck me."

Jensen shoves him back but keeps his hands on Jared's shoulders. "Jesus Christ."

Jared smiles, tries to lean forward for a kiss. "C'mon," he says. "I'll be good, I promise. I'll be good for you. Please, just. I need it."

Jensen turns his face away from Jared's mouth, so Jared just attaches himself to the guy's neck and keeps begging. Jensen moans, and Jared grabs him, his hand over Jensen's dick. Even through the jeans Jared can feel how big it is, how hard it's starting to get for him. Jared wants to fall to his knees right there, get him naked so he can see the knot, so he can better imagine what it's going to feel like.

But Jensen pulls him, heading further down the hallway Jared happens to know leads to the frat brother's bedrooms. Jared figures that's more important. Who needs to worry about imagining when he's about to get the real thing?

Jensen stops in front of the third door down and throws a look over his shoulder to make sure no one is watching them. Then he opens it and shoves Jared inside, and Jared goes easily, pulling Jensen along with him.

It's a small room, only a little bigger than the dorms Jared saw when he toured campus in the fall. But there's a nice full mattress taking up most of the space, so it'll do.

The door slams behind Jensen and he presses his back against it, his breath heavy. Jared thinks that's a waste, there are much better things for him to press against right now. He figures the Alpha will want to make the first move, won't want some needy virgin like Jared telling him what to do. So Jared just stands at the foot of the bed, staring back, waiting for Jensen to come for him. It's the first time he gets a good look at Jensen, or at anything, really, since five minutes after they walked into the party and Jared lost all cognitive ability on Chris's scent.

Jensen is tall—not Jared tall, but tall. He's got bright green eyes and freckles and a mouth that would be better suited to an Omega than an Alpha if Jared's being honest.

"Wow," he says. "You're gorgeous." Jared grins. "This is not such a bad deal after all."

His shirt comes off easily enough—Jared only bothers to undo half the buttons before pulling it over his head. If he loses one, he'll live. Jared is so not in the mood for slow and steady.

"You think that now," Jensen says, and scrubs a hand over his face. "How did you even get in here?"

"We can talk after," Jared offers. He walks across the room and puts one hand on each side of Jensen's face, finally getting a kiss. The taste of him is as incredible as the rest of him, and he opens to Jared, lets Jared work his tongue in for a few moments. Jared pulls away from the kiss reluctantly and he looks back to the bed. Jensen's still not taking the initiative, so Jared figures, fuck it. Someone has to get this moving.

He stumbles backward, Jensen's hand clutched in his, and Jensen doesn't step with him until the last moment, when staying in place would mean breaking contact. He joins Jared on the bed quickly enough, which makes Jared's whole body flare with anticipation.

"How do you want me?" Jared asks, lying back. Jensen moves until he's over Jared, ducks his head down to lick at Jared's neck, down to Jared's chest, and back up. He doesn't answer, but he does put his hands all over Jared, gripping his sides, feeling his abs and then down, opening the top of Jared's pants and pulling his dick out.

Jared shudders, splutters out some kind of begging. He wants Jensen's hand on his ass, if he has to settle for hands right now at all. Mostly he wants to skip to the good part.

Jensen starts kissing him then, hot and heavy and finally bossy, and Jared is almost not even capable of responding to it. "You smell good," Jensen mutters, pulling away, licking a strip down Jared's neck as he begins to stroke Jared's cock. "God, you fucking smell better than anything I've ever—wanna knot you so bad."

"Do it," Jared pleads. "Please, please."

Jensen sits back and reaches for the nightstand; Jared gets a glimpse of condoms and a bottle of lube that Jensen bypasses. It's pretty clear they're not going to need it.

"I'm Jared, by the way," he says stupidly. "In case you want to know. You don't have to want to—I don't care. But if you do." Jared knows that tomorrow it's going to grind his heart into dust if Jensen doesn't care, but he means it for the moment. 

Jensen stops, turns back to Jared with a look of horror on his face. "Jared," he says. He drops the condom, reaches out to touch Jared's face gently instead. "Jared. Jesus Christ, what am I doing?"

"You don't have to use the condom if you don't want to," Jared says.

Jensen's eyes blaze, and he closes them for a long time, taking quick, shallow breaths. Then he does the worst thing Jared can imagine. He climbs off of him, off the bed, steps backward until he bumps into the wall. "What the fuck am I doing?"

Jared sits up. "Did I do something wrong?" he asks. "I'll stop talking so much. I won’t talk at all. Or, only to beg for it, I promise. You'll like that, right? I'll be good."

Jensen shakes his head and stays against the wall, as far as he can get from Jared, and starts scaling his way back to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"This isn't why I brought you here," he says. "Wanted to get you away from…"

Jared frowns and begins to stand. "Is there somewhere else you want to—do you want someone to watch?"

"Don't get out of bed," Jensen says, extending a hand out. "Stay there, okay?"

Jared smiles and leans back. "Yeah. Definitely."

"Promise me," Jensen says. "I'm going to lock this door, and I'm going to leave, and I need you to promise me you won’t open this door. Not for anyone, okay? Not until this has worn off."

"Not even for you?" Jared asks with a laugh.

But Jensen doesn't return the laugh, doesn't even smile. "Especially not for me."

He leaves then, the doorframe shaking with the force of his exit, and Jared keens out for him to come back. Nothing happens. He can't go now; he can't disobey his Alpha, not in the middle of heat like this. He's stuck here, stranded in some frat house waiting for some guy he doesn't know, so turned on he can't even begin to hope he'll find his way home.

Unless Jensen comes back, knocks on the door and reverses the order, Jared has no hope of getting knotted tonight. He almost wants to cry. But he knows his odds are good, knows that Jensen has his scent, must want this—maybe not _as much_ as Jared wants it, but he wants it. He can't stay away all night; Jared certainly couldn't.

Jared waits three hours in agony before finally slipping into fever dreams.

Jared awakes the next morning to pounding. Not in his head, thank god; he didn't really get a chance to drink. Then he takes in the unfamiliar room, and the night before comes crashing back on him. He wishes all he had to worry about right now was a hangover.

"Yeah, just a second," he calls out and whoever is trying to batter down the door stops their assault.

Jared takes a few deep breaths, stands, looks around the room for his clothes. He feels shame shoot through him, red hot, as he sees the mess he made last night. The looseness of his bones, the slightly airy feeling in his head, and the dull current of want still coursing through him only make it worse. He'd come close—he'd come so close—to making the biggest mistake an Omega could make.

And Jesus, that's what he is. For the first time, Jared stops to consider it with a clear mind. Nothing left to wonder about. Jared would give a lot to get that ignorance back.

More pounding. Apparently whoever this is took the 'just a second' thing very literally. Jared wonders if it's the Alpha, Jensen. This is, after all, his room. He has a right to be annoyed and Jared should get the fuck out, but he reaches the door and hesitates, terrified. If he opens it and smells Jensen, the whole nightmare is going to happen all over again. He could have gotten away, and he'd slept through it. Chances are, Jared won't get that lucky twice.

"Christ, are you having a baby in there? Let's fucking go already." The voice belongs to a woman, and Jared is both relieved and horrified. This could be Jensen's girlfriend coming for him only to find Jared. She might see him and get the wrong impression; she might not give Jared a chance to explain. After everything Jensen did for him last night, Jared might add home wrecker to the list of new and undesirable labels that describe him.

He opens the door and flinches as her eyes go round.

"Um, hi," Jared says, pointing to the room. "I can explain, I promise."

"A male Omega, huh?" she asks. She cocks her head to the side and Jared feels even more like a freak, except that there's something about her. She's beautiful with long auburn hair and a plump mouth, and the eyes she's looking Jared over with seem more intuitive than Jared prefers at the moment. That's not it though. He can't pinpoint what about her feels off until he remembers what Genevieve's told him about being able to recognize other Omegas on sight. "I've never seen one of you before."

Jared's shoulders slump. "Yeah, well, me neither," he says.

"Aww, perk up," she says, slapping Jared on the shoulder. "Being an Omega rocks unless you're a moron about it." She smiles bitchily. "Oh, never mind. Doesn’t apply to you, does it?"

"It wasn't my smartest moment," Jared admits. 

"I'll say." She leans against the doorframe. "So, you need to get the fuck out of here, kid. I get to spend the rest of the day washing your scent out of the bedclothes so Jensen doesn't go apeshit when he gets home."

"Right," Jared says, frowning. "Can you tell him I said—?"

She crosses her arms over her chest. "Jensen doesn’t want to see you, and he almost definitely doesn't care what you have to say, and I really don't care, so just go."

"Are you his girlfriend?" Jared asks. "Because I swear we didn't—"

"No," she snaps. "Now leave."

Jared nods and takes out his phone, sees that there are a truly astounding number of missed calls. Jensen's friend points him to the living room where he finds an over-caffeinated Genevieve sitting on the couch. She jumps to her feet as Jared approaches. "Jared. You fucking—are you okay? Jesus, I'm going to murder you."

Jared throws a look back over his shoulder. The redhead is still glaring at him, waiting for them to go. "Pretty sure she'll take care of that for you," he murmurs, hoping only Genevieve can hear it.

Genevieve rolls her eyes, grabbing Jared's jacket and pulling him to the door. She smiles at the angry woman, who surprises Jared by smiling back just a bit. "Thanks for helping me find him, Danneel," she says.

Danneel waves a hand as she turns her back on them, presumably to go deal with the sheets. Genevieve looks to Jared and pulls him out the door. "I hate to say 'I told you so.' I really do."

"I don't believe you—ow!" Jared pulls his shirt back from Genevieve's too-tight grasp. "Look, I get it. I fucked up. I _really, really_ fucked up. I'm not going to let myself forget it and my parents really aren't gonna let me forget it." Jared lets out a breath. "Gen, I really need someone to be nice to me today."

Genevieve takes Jared's hand and squeezes. "You're paying for my gas money, bitch."

Jared fills Genevieve in on the details of the night before as they drive, and Genevieve tells him what was going on at the party while Jared was locked in Jensen's room having his episode.

Apparently it had been a pretty great time for everyone until the girls were all ready to leave and realized Jared was missing. Genevieve had spent an hour searching for him to no avail until she bumped into an Alpha who looked just as hysterical as she felt. Jensen told her what had happened, which at least spares Jared the pain of rehashing it.

Jared gets home to oblivious parents and has to sit them down and lay out the whole sordid affair. No, he was not at Genevieve's house last night. Yes, he did break the law and go to a party. And, worst of all…

"You're a what?" his father asks, eyes going round behind his glasses.

"I found out at the party. I'm an Omega," he says. Both of his parents sit up, faces distressed. Jared puts his hands out to placate them. "And before you freak out, no I was not…" He looks away, blushing at the idea of having to tell his parents whether or not some stranger was up his ass last night.

"Well, then you must be mistaken," his dad says, relieved. "Otherwise someone would have...well, anyway, don't do that again, son, and, let's say grounded for—"

"Dad," Jared says. "Believe me. Without supplying details nobody wants to hear, just trust me. I'm sure."

"But you play football," his dad says. "I worried about this with your sister, hell, even your older brother, but you're nothing like—"

"Have you ever even met one? Another male?" Jared asks, his voice rising.

His father looks away. "I've seen—"

"What, movies?" Jared laughs. "Either the movies are wrong, or your freak son doesn't even fit in with the other freaks."

"They can't _all_ be wrong, Jared," his father says.

"That's enough, Gerald," Jared's mother interrupts. She turns her attention to Jared. Her eyes are kind and a little sad, but her words are severe. "You were very irresponsible last night, young man. You could have gotten into real trouble. We're both very disappointed in you." Jared recoils a little, and she puts a hand on his shoulder so he meets her eyes. "In your _behavior_ , Jared. We raised you better than to run around breaking laws that are only in place to protect you."

"I know, ma," Jared says, eyes falling to his shoes. "I'm sorry."

She sighs. "Come on," she says, walking to the door and grabbing her coat off the rack. "Let's get you to the clinic. We'll talk about your punishment later."

Jared nods, stands and follows her, dragging his feet. The ride is awkward on a whole new level, and Jared kind of wants to jump off every bridge they drive over. Halfway to the clinic, Mom turns the radio down and slaps Jared's thigh to get his attention.

"Yeah, what?" he asks, giving her more attitude than she deserves right now.

"Your father isn't disappointed by you," she says. "He's just surprised. We all are. But this is not something that's wrong with you, honey. This is just part of who you are. It's not all of you, and it's not a bad thing."

Jared wants nothing more than to hug his mother. He wants to hide his face in her shoulder and cling to her and cry and say _thank you_ and _I love you_ and beg her not to change her mind. Instead he goes the angsty teenager route, mumbles "Yeah, whatever" and continues to stare out the window miserably.

Jared is sitting in a crowd of excited college kids the next time he sees Jensen. He's at a GSA meeting, because Genevieve is trying to get over a hard breakup and her general strategy for this involves joining every new club on campus and dragging Jared along to as many of them as possible. This time around, he got to choose between GSA or the Alpha/Omega Rights Society, which really wasn't a choice at all.

The room is loud and hectic, and Jared doesn't see Jensen until the small brunette at the front begins to call for order and the people milling about take their seats. Jensen is sitting directly across the room; Jared's breath catches as he realizes who he's looking at. Jensen is smiling out of one side of his mouth, leaning over to say something to the guy on his left. It's been two years since that night, but Jensen is every bit as gorgeous as Jared remembers. 

"If everyone could please quiet down," the brunette says again, and then she turns to glare at the side of the room opposite Jared. "Including board members."

The girl to Jensen's right smacks his shoulder and points to the front of the room, and Jensen rolls his eyes as he turns to face the speaker.

She smiles, hostile and amused all in one go. "Thank you," she says.

Jensen smiles sheepishly and nods his head.

"Welcome to the first meeting of the school year! I'm president of the club, Sophia Bush, and in case you have the wrong room, this is the Gay/Straight Alliance." She waits a few seconds to see if anyone is going to leave and then smiles. "Great! Welcome back, everyone! And a special welcome to all our new members, I see a lot of unfamiliar faces."

"Boring," calls the guy Jensen had been talking to a minute ago. "Take off your shirt!"

She sighs. "I guess I should introduce the rest of the executive board," she says. "Everyone, this is Misha Collins. He's our VP and an embarrassment to the organization."

Misha stands and bows.

"Next we have Jensen Ackles, our event chair." Jensen waves, ducking his head a little. "He's a senior majoring in some hoopla I haven't cared enough to memorize. And that lovely lady next to him is Katie, our public relations chair. She's a junior majoring in PR. We have a grad chair too, but, let's face it, he's probably never going to actually show up to a meeting, so let's just get on with it."

A ripple of laughter goes through the crowd, and Sophia launches into all the 'exciting' things the club has planned for the following months. Genevieve sits next to Jared, deeply engrossed, asking questions and making suggestions when they're invited and looking over with a big smile on her face every now and then.

Jared is happy to see it, but he's not really listening to a word anyone says. He's watching Jensen. Jensen, who should have been Jared's first knot and somehow managed to resist and whom Jared has nonetheless never managed to stop thinking about. Jensen stands about 20 minutes into the meeting and quickly runs through details for everything planned before the next meeting, and Jared actually manages to catch his attention when he heads back to his seat.

Jared smiles and gives a small wave, and Jensen's eyebrows scrunch together for a second before he turns his face away. It's not exactly the warm start Jared would have hoped for, but he figures maybe Jensen's forgotten about him. After all, it was two years ago and Jared was just some stupid kid at a party. Hell, it might even be for the best.

He leans in to Genevieve and whispers, "It's him, Gen."

Genevieve's eyes follow Jensen as he sits down. "I know," she says quietly. "What are you gonna—?"

"I don't know," he says. "Should I say something? Should I thank him? Is that awkward?"

Genevieve laughs under her breath. "Beats me, Jared," she says. "There isn’t exactly a manual."

"Maybe I'll just say 'hi' and see how he takes it." Jared looks over at her. "He's really something, huh?"

Genevieve considers Jensen for a few seconds, then smiles wickedly. "I'd hit it."

Jared elbows her in the side and they laugh a little louder than Jared intended, which makes Sophia look in their direction. Jared and Genevieve both straighten in their seats, wearing expressions of impenetrable dignity and hoping she'll assume it was someone else.

She shrugs it off and keeps talking half an hour longer before dismissing the meeting and allowing the group to disperse into small huddles. Some of the people who stick around stay in clusters with the people they came with, throwing around questions about the summer and how classes are going. But most of them crowd around e-board members, and Jared shoves impatiently through a throng of chatty freshmen to get in line to speak to Jensen.

Jensen is all smiles and easy conversation as he works through the line with the occasional pat on the back as someone passes by and greets him. He seems completely in his element, the opposite of the way he was the night Jared first met him, until his eye catches Jared's. He looks up and away again. Jared watches his body tighten up, and, as soon as he finishes talking to the girl directly in front of Jared, Jensen gives Genevieve—not Jared—a tight smile and makes his apologies for leaving.

Jared tries to call out his name, but Jensen doesn't turn back. The guy he'd been talking to earlier, Misha, is waiting at the door for him and they both leave as soon as Jensen reaches him. Jared thinks he sees Misha dart a worried glance back in his direction, but he figures that's just paranoid.

He decides not to take it personally.

At least, he doesn't take it personally until Jensen cuts out of three GSA meetings early and bails on two of the events _that he himself planned_ as soon as he sees Jared there. After that, Jared's pretty sure. It seems more than a little dramatic—Jared gets that he is not Jensen's favorite person in the world and has accordingly stopped trying to start a conversation, but Jesus, it's not like he killed Jensen's puppy.

Normally, Jared would just let it go. It's Jensen's club and these are his events—Jared would _love_ to just let it go. But it doesn't matter if he skips the GSA meetings or not, because Genevieve is making connections and getting comfortable and mixing friend groups. Now Jared's friends are always around Jensen's friends and—god forbid anyone throw a party or have a get together. If Jared shows up Jensen will be there and if Jensen is there he will leave the moment he sets eyes on Jared, and that's not doing wonders for Jared's self-esteem. It was one night two years ago, and all Jared has wanted since he woke up the day after has been to put it in the past and maybe even try to forget it ever happened.

And he likes the people he's meeting; he'd love to be friends with them. With the exception of Jensen, who seems to believe Jared's stupidity is contagious, and Danneel, who doesn't run away from him but never misses a chance to glare or make a dig at Jared, Jensen's friends either don't know or have the decency to act like they don't know about that night. They joke around with him and harass him until he participates and generally treat him like a welcome member of the group. Hell, even Jensen's roommate Misha is nice to him, and Jared knows for a fact that Misha isn't as clueless as he acts.

But no use, because here he is, at party number five, and Jensen just arrived, so Jared has actually been reduced to hiding out on the balcony, trying to keep as much distance as possible between himself and rejection.

The French doors swing open and Jared stays where he is, back pressed to the brick wall and his eyes on the stars. Whoever this is can just go find their own balcony to mope on. Jared's not moving.

"No, I know, I'll send it tomorrow," the person says, closing the chattering sound of the party back inside. "I've just been really busy."

Jared sighs. It's wrong, he knows, to sit here in the shadows and listen to someone's phone conversation, and he should just go back inside. He hops down from the balcony half wall and rounds the corner, only to see exactly the man he's been avoiding five feet away from him.

"Yeah, yeah, I promise," he says. "First thing tomorr—no, I can't do it right now, Mom. It's 10:30 at night here, everything is closed, and I'm already out."

Jared tries to sidestep him before Jensen even sees that anyone else is on the balcony, but Jensen straightens up very suddenly when Jared is behind him and turns quickly. His eyes widen and he swallows hard.

"Uh, look, I have to go, okay?" He pauses. "Love you, too."

He pulls the phone down and hangs up, still staring at Jared with eyes like big green saucers. Jared has to work very hard not to roll his eyes.

"I'm leaving," he says. "Don't let me ruin your night."

Jensen starts talking at the same time. "Shit, sorry, I was just—phone, you know? I didn't think anyone else…I'll go in."

Jensen doesn't make a move, though, and Jared realizes after a few seconds of Jensen staring at him, then at the door, that he's standing in the way.

"I won't bite if you get closer, you know," he says, laughing uncomfortably as he shuffles a little to the side to let Jensen through.

"What? I know that," Jensen says, though he still doesn't take a step toward the exit.

Jared decides to test a theory. He walks up to Jensen's side, clearing the door but closing the space between them. Now Jensen can't seem to get to the door fast enough. He has his hand on the handle in two long strides, and maybe Jared's a masochist, but he can't help asking, "Why do you hate me?"

Jensen freezes, closing the door and turning to look at Jared. "What makes you think I hate you?"

Jared's responding laughter is nothing but bitter. "Really, man? After that little dance we just did, you're going to pretend you haven't been avoiding me for the last two months?"

Jensen shrugs, but his eyes turn sharply to the floor. "That's crazy."

"So you weren't about to go inside and make some excuse to Sandy about why you have to leave her party?"

"If I was, it's not your business," Jensen replies. Jared can hear the door handle as Jensen fiddles with it behind his back. "Look, buddy, I'm just trying to enjoy my Friday night."

"My name's not buddy, it's—"

"Jared," Jensen says. He takes one of his hands off the door and rubs it over his face. "As if I could forget."

"I'm not a bad person," Jared says. "I know I did a bad thing, and that it could have been even worse, but if you'd give me a chance to make up for it, I'm not some idiot teenager anymore."

"I'm sure you're not," says Jensen, his tone almost comically formal. "Have a good night."

Jared moves quickly, puts a palm on the door above Jensen's head and pushes it closed. Jensen jumps, startled, but doesn't turn to look at Jared.

"At least let me apologize," Jared says, leaning down. He's almost close enough to rest his head on Jensen's shoulder, and he can smell him. It's that same scent Jared's been remembering for years—not as strong now that he's medicated but still intoxicating. It sends a pleasant rush of heat all the way to Jared's toes. He tries very hard to think straight. "Or thank you."

"You don't have anything to apologize for," Jensen says. His body's gone very still, and his voice is strained, like he's holding his breath. "And you certainly have nothing to thank me for."

With that, Jensen pushes back—not rough, but with enough intent to remind Jared who the Alpha here is. Jared stumbles a few paces and by the time he's secure on his feet, the door is slamming behind Jensen.

"I hate my friends' birthdays." Genevieve stands in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face, her hair artfully tousled into a style Jared is going to dub _Hangover Chic_ from here on out. She kicks at an orange balloon as it dares to tread over her toe. "Fucking. Hate them."

"Shh," Danneel says. "Complain less loudly."

She, at least, is being useful. She's using one hand to scrub at a mysterious stain on the carpet and the other to try and hold her skull together, which is more than Jared can say for pretty much anyone else in the room. The birthday girl—sparkly crown now resting over her eyes instead of in her hair—turns over on the couch, mumbles something, and burrows deeper into her pillow.

_Killing your friends is wrong_ , Jared reminds himself, though whatever vile toxin he managed to swallow last night slushes its dissent against the inside of his stomach.

"Jared, dear, do you have to drop those cans so hard?"

Jared lifts his head from the giant black trash bag in his hands and glares in response. He's managed to collect about half of the cans and bottles scattered around the house in the last 20 minutes. Considering he's at about 15% of his usual mental capacity right now, he deserves a medal, not criticism.

Genevieve throws her head back and laughs at the look on Jared's face, and, to his great surprise, Danneel comes to his rescue. By throwing a rag at Genevieve's head.

"I want quiet!" she announces. "And if I don't get it, I'm going to kill everyone."

Jared and Genevieve exchange looks. From anyone else, that kind of threat would just be amusing. From Danneel it's actually kind of scary, and if the expression on her face is anything to go by, Genevieve is thinking the exact same thing.

Genevieve, always the fast thinker even when she is clearly under the influence of a massive hangover, mumbles something about a McDonald's run. Danneel's steely gaze clouds over into something almost approaching adoration.

"Yes," she says, as if under a spell. "Go forth and don't let me see your face again unless you've got grease and coffee."

Genevieve nods and makes for the door. Jared tries to follow her, but Danneel catches him by the back of his shirt and tugs with more strength than Jared would have expected.

"I don't think so, honey." Danneel shoves a bucket into Jared's hands and smiles brightly. "If you're done picking up the bottles, you can help me clean the bathroom."

"Oh god, no," he says. "Please don't make me go in there."

"If I'm going in, you're going in." She turns toward the bathroom assuming Jared will follow, and Jared can't really think of a way out of it.

"If there's still puke anywhere in sight, I'm bailing," Jared tells her. "Just so we're clear."

"And they say chivalry is dead," Danneel replies.

Mercifully, the bathroom isn't nearly as gross as Jared was expecting. Still pretty gross—even with the two of them it'll take over an hour just to get it back to human standards—but the toilet didn't get clogged and no one missed, so Jared sends out a thank you to the universe for small victories.

The room is quiet as they clean, awkward in the way only spending time alone with someone you know hates you can be. Jared tries sports and then the weather and then crappy reality television he knows for a fact both he and Danneel watch, but the best he gets are grumbled responses and the occasional 'shut up, Jared.'

Possibly, Jared goes a little stir-crazy from how unpleasant the whole thing is, because, instead of clamping up and getting shit done like he should, he brings up the last thing in the world he should. The whole reason Danneel can't stand him to begin with.

"So Jensen really hates me, huh?"

Danneel pauses her sponge assault on the bathtub and looks over her shoulder. "Would it be so wrong if he does?"

Jared shrugs. "I guess not." Danneel goes back to work, clearly assuming the conversation is done, and Jared continues to spray the sink with cleaning solution. "It just seems a little unfair, don't you think?"

"No," Danneel answers. "No, I really don't."

"I was a kid. An idiot kid, sure, but just a kid. It was years ago, I should get another chance. I get that I screwed up, but come on. Nothing happened—"

Danneel throws her sponge down and turns on Jared, and Jared backs away from how pissed she looks. "Nothing happened?" She scoffs. "Maybe not to you, asshole. Thanks to Jensen, nothing happened _to you_. I guess you don't care what happened to anyone else."

Jared blinks, completely lost. "I'm pretty sure it happened to me."

"To you," she says. "And to Jensen."

"Jensen? What happened to Jensen? All he did was help me out."

"Yeah, try telling him that," Danneel growls.

"I have." Jared looks away from her, pretending to be deeply engrossed by a spot on the mirror. "I keep trying to thank him, but he won't even talk to me."

Danneel rolls her eyes. "God you're dumb," she says. "He thinks he practically raped you, Jared. It took like a year and a half for him to be okay with himself, and just when we were finally making a little progress, you fucking show up again."

"He thinks he—what?"

She sighs. "Yeah, Jared. Newsflash. You weren't the only one who had a shitty time at that party."

"Well, I know, but—"

"But?" she asks, crossing her arms over her chest and arching an eyebrow.

"But I didn't think—fuck. I mean, I knew it was stupid, but I thought I only hurt myself. He really thinks that?"

"Yeah," she says softly. "He doesn't hate you. He hates himself."

Jared frowns, relaxing back against the counter as it sinks in. "Oh my god," he says. "Seriously? _That's_ why he's been avoiding me?"

Danneel nods, even looks a little sorry. "So, could you please just stop trying to talk to him? Leave well enough alone?"

"No."

Whatever momentary kindness was in Danneel's expression dissolves. "What the hell do you mean no?"

"I mean no. I can't just let him go on thinking that. I have to make him see he's wrong."

"If me and all his friends telling him didn't help, you really think you're gonna get through?"

"Maybe." Jared pauses to think it over, then nods. "Yes, definitely. I was there. It was my fuck up. It's on me to—he saved me. He's got it all wrong."

Danneel laughs. "And you really think you can help?"

"Yes," Jared says. "But he won't give me a chance to." He looks Danneel in the eye. "You have to help me."

"Excuse me, what?"

"You have to help me. He won't talk to me. You have to convince him to talk to me. Or something."

"And you have got to hook me up with whoever supplies that kush you're smoking," she mutters. She looks back to the bathtub and apparently decides she's got it clean enough because she nods and begins to take off her latex gloves. Jared blocks her exit.

"Look, I know you don't like me—"

"Understatement."

"And now I can definitely see why. But it's worth trying. I fucked up, I have to fix it. And—you said it yourself. Nothing else is getting through to him. He might need to hear it from me."

Danneel shakes her head, letting out a long breath. "I am so going to regret this," she says. "He and I are working the bake sale on Tuesday. I'll play sick, you take my spot and try getting him to listen to you."

Jared forgets himself and the fact that he's covered in filth, forgets Danneel and the fact that she hates him, and sweeps her into a hug. She fights her way out of the embrace and Jared puts her down as soon as he realizes what he's doing.

They hear the front door open and Genevieve calls out "hash browns." Danneel pauses in the bathroom doorway to give Jared one last glare. "Make it worse and I'll cut your balls off, Padalecki. Understood?"

That's definitely a language Jared speaks, so he swallows hard and nods and manfully resists the urge to cup himself.

"I know, I'm late," is the first thing Jensen says when he arrives at the GSA bake sale booth the next day. He doesn't look at Jared before he starts dumping his bag next to the one empty chair at their table. "But you know Professor Sheppard never ends class on—you're not Danneel."

Jared looks up at him and puts on his best smile. "No, I'm not. But I would kill for those boobs."

Jensen just stands there, staring at Jared with a deer-caught-in-headlights expression.

Jared arches an eyebrow and pulls Jensen's seat out just a little further. "Were you going to sit down?"

"I was," he says, not moving any closer. "But—"

"But?" Jared asks.

Jensen takes a step back. "Where's Danneel?"

"Home sick," Jared replies. "Nothing serious, just a cold."

"She didn't text me," he says, pulling his phone out and scrolling through it.

"From what I hear, she was planning to come but Sophia was worried about her and sent her home where I'm sure she promptly took some cold medicine and passed out." Jared tries his best not to look too hopeful. "So I got called to fill in."

Jensen bites his lip. "I'm sorry," he says. "She didn't know better. Danneel should have told her not to call you."

"Come on," Jared says, still trying to keep his light air. "I'm not going to steal _all_ the brownies. And I'll share the ones I do if you promise not to tell on me."

Jensen finally sits, but he pulls the chair as far away as he can without it leaving the table and he doesn't smile at Jared's attempts to be cheerful. "I'll call Misha," he says. "He'll be here in like ten minutes. He can fill in for you and I'll stay or he can fill in for me and you can stay. Whatever you prefer."

"Or we could both stay?"

Jensen looks down at the table. "You shouldn't have to be alone with me," he says quietly. Then he looks up, meeting Jared's eyes. "After what I did to you—I never want you to be in a position where you feel threatened."

Jared nods slowly. "Uh huh. Right. And what was it you did to me again? Just to be clear."

Jensen wipes a hand over his mouth and leans in so he can whisper. It's the closest he's let himself get to Jared, and Jared catches his scent. "Look, I'm not proud of it, okay?" His voice breaks a little. "Please don't make me say it."

"You know you're crazy, right?"

Jensen tilts his head.

"Dude, you pretty much saved my ass." Jared stops to laugh at just how literal that is, and Jensen looks no less confused. "I've been trying really hard to thank you for months now. In fact, I've been wishing I could thank you for years."

"Thank me?" Jensen says. "You're remembering things wrong."

"No," Jared says, letting Jensen hear how pissed he is. "Don't tell me what I remember. I remember that some jerk nearly made me his bitch and you—"

"Made you think you were safe only to take advantage of you?"

"Dude, you didn't take advantage of me," Jared says. "I'm still knot-free. Thanks to you. You managed to resist when it never even occurred to that other Alpha."

"Oh, wow. I'm a better person than Christian Kane. Like that counts for anything." Jensen shakes his head. "I got close. And I shouldn't have touched you at all."

At this point, a group of freshmen stumble up to the table and start talking loudly, and Jensen looks as relieved as Jared is annoyed.

"Two sugar cookies, three brownies, and a cupcake," one of the girls says, shoving a five dollar bill in Jared's face. Jared takes it and makes change as Jensen hands her a plate full of dessert.

"Wait," says one of the guys with them as she hands the snacks out to everyone else in the group. "What about my chocolate chip?"

"Diet!" she snaps. The rest of the group all laugh and they stand around for a few more minutes, drowning out any hope Jared might have had for a serious conversation.

Finally they leave, and Jared leans back toward Jensen to pick up where they left off. "You couldn't help it," he says. "Shit, the fact that you stopped yourself at all is—"

"I really, really don't want to talk about this," Jensen says, trying to rise. "This isn't the time or place. I'll call Misha, okay?"

Jared grabs his arm and drags him back down. "No. Not okay. I didn't realize you thought—that wasn't your fault, man. It was just biology."

"Jared," Jensen says in an angry whisper. "You want biology? Right now, I can smell you, and I want to do it all over again. That's my biology. It's fucked up, and you're not safe around me. I don't even trust myself anymore. So don't make excuses for it."

"Have coffee with me," Jared says.

Jensen stops and gives Jared a look. He can't seem to decide whether to laugh or not. "What?"

Jared grins, happy to have shut Jensen up by catching him off guard. "I can smell you, too. You smell amazing. Let's have coffee."

"You're crazy."

Jared snorts. "Maybe. So coffee?"

"No," Jensen says. "Have you heard a word I've said since I got here?"

"Heard? Yes. But I didn't understand any of it. I'm slow on the uptake, especially when people are talking nonsense. Maybe you can explain it to me sometime. Over coffee."

Jensen's lips finally curl up just a little. "You're awfully insistent—"

"For an Omega?" Jared supplies.

Jensen's eyes flash. "I didn't say that."

"You're right, you didn't," Jared admits. "I'm a little defensive about the Omega thing. It's one of my many flaws. I can tell you all about those."

"Let me guess," Jensen says. "Over coffee."

"Oh, no," Jared replies. "Coffee is a first date kind of thing. The first date is for making myself look good. But I'd be happy to fill you in about my flaws over dinner."

Jensen smiles. "That's really very flattering, but I, uh. I don't think I'd be comfortable with that."

Jared shrugs and leans back in his chair. "That's cool," he says. "We're going to be here for like two more hours, and I'm not going to stop asking. You're bound to say yes eventually."

Jensen doesn’t agree to go on a date with Jared by the end of the day, but he does loosen up after about 45 minutes. As soon as he's stopped acting like Jared is liable to run away from him, they have a pretty good time. Jared feels like he makes good progress on getting Jensen over his inexplicable guilt trip, but by the end of their shift, that's not even what's bothering him anymore.

Jensen's kind of awesome, and Jared really wants some damn coffee.

Adrianne, for reasons completely unknown except to herself, decides the world will end if they don't have a picnic. Maybe not in so many words, but that's sure as fuck what it feels like. Jared accidentally lets it slip that he's actually not too bad at baking pies, so he ends up spending almost all of Friday making food for Saturday.

It's worth it when he gets back from a game of Frisbee to find Jensen looking like a chipmunk with his cheeks stuffed full of Jared's momma's best recipe for apple crumble.

"Whoever made this is my new God," he's telling Genevieve when Jared comes up behind him to get in line for food. Genevieve smiles at Jensen, looks up at Jared behind him, and smirks.

Jared leans in, hoping to surprise Jensen, and talks right into his ear, "Thanks!"

It works. Jensen jumps, turning to glare. He swallows all the pie in his mouth (more impressive than it sounds) as he looks up at Jared. Jared smiles at the annoyance in Jensen's expression, and then, because he is a terrible person, he lifts the bottom of his shirt to wipe sweat off his face. He hears the breath Jensen takes in then; it comes back out ragged. "Jesus," he mutters.

"Just call me Jared, please," Jared replies, smiling.

Jensen rolls his eyes. "Cute."

"He certainly seems to think so," Genevieve says, giving Jared a wink. "Hey, look. A reason for me to leave. Better go deal with that."

And she's off. Jensen watches her back and shakes his head. "She's really subtle, huh?"

"Oh, yeah," Jared answers. "The queen of it." He watches Jensen take the last bite of pie into his mouth. "What was your contribution to this little party? You seem like a finger sandwich man to me."

Jensen laughs. "Yeah, no. I'm not allowed in the kitchen—not even to make sandwiches," he pauses for emphasis, then leans in with a self-satisfied grin, "I brought the coke."

"Very impressive," Jared says. "Did you carry it here all by yourself, Mr. Big Manly Alpha?"

"Fuck off," Jensen replies, shoving Jared's side. "You can't go after my balls today. I bet you wore an apron while you made these. And, like, sang showtunes or something."

"Guilty as charged." Jared laughs. "My roommate was not a happy guy."

"Ah, well, for what it's worth, time well spent."

Jared's insides go all fuzzy. "Thanks."

Jensen nods, stooping to place his plate on the trash pile.

"I was about to go on a walk," says Jared, trying to act casual. It's an obvious lie since he just got in line for food, but he's banking on Jensen not calling him out. "Don't really know this park that well. I was hoping to see more of it. Do you maybe wanna come with?"

Jensen hesitates, then shrugs with a small smile. "Sure, man. Sounds better than standing around here waiting for Danneel's permission to leave."

Jared turns toward the path and waits until Jensen is at his side to start walking. "She really runs your life, huh?"

"With an iron fist," Jensen says, lifting his fist for ephasis. Jared laughs and Jensen continues, "Nah, I just didn't really feel like coming. I mean, a picnic? Really?"

"I think it's cute."

Jensen is smiling from the one side of his mouth Jared can see. "It's definitely cute. Fun? I dunno about that one."

"I'm having fun." Jared turns to waggle his eyebrows at Jensen. "Now that I'm your God and all."

Jensen shakes his head. "Why do I feel like I'm going to regret that one?"

"You mean you don't already?" Jared tsks. "Must work harder."

"Not on my account." Jensen has been leading them. They're a good ways away from the group now, Jared can just hardly make out Misha trying to chase Sandy down to steal the Frisbee from her (because that's totally how the game works) in the distance. They're almost at the street, and Jared can't help feeling like maybe that wasn't an accident. "I think you're plenty obnoxious just the way you are."

"And persistent," Jared adds. "Hey, speaking of. Does being your God mean I get to insist on a coffee date?"

"No," Jensen replies immediately. Jared's only disappointed for a second before Jensen smiles, his eyes folding up at the corners. "But being my friend does."

The part of Jared that spent two years fantasizing about Jensen kind of wants to swoon into a heap. Luckily Jared has just a touch more self-control than that. "Wanna go now?" he asks. "Blow off this picnic?"

"Yes," Jensen says. "God, yes."

"No need to use my proper title."

"Man, you're an asshole." Jensen is looking up at Jared, apparently completely oblivious to the outside world.

"I may be an asshole," Jared puts an arm out to stop Jensen from walking right into oncoming traffic, "but at least I am not a jaywalking asshole."

"Don't sell yourself short, buddy." Jensen looks both ways before he starts crossing this time, and Jared jogs to catch up with him. "As long as you're walking, Jay, you're a jaywalking asshole."

"Oh, wordplay," Jared deadpans. "Now I'm all wet."

Jared doesn't miss the way that makes Jensen lick his lips. He tries to find a way to monopolize on that, but as he's scrambling to figure out where to take the conversation, Jensen decides something that makes him nod to himself before looking up at Jared. "Hey, Jared."

"Yeah?"

"If I let you buy me coffee right now, will you let me buy you dinner tonight?"

Jared stops mid-step and gives Jensen a critical look. "What's the catch?"

"Well," Jensen says. "You have to have dinner with me."

Jared pretends to consider it very seriously before agreeing. Jensen grins and Jared can't help asking, "Why the sudden willingness to date me?"

"Let's just say I'm trying really hard to believe what you told me the other day." He smiles softly, and Jared returns it, unbelievably relieved. Then Jensen's eyes go dark. "Let's also say you're sweating, so my brain might be broken because you smell better than your pies tasted."

"Bet I taste better, too," Jared says.

He's expecting something snarky in return, but instead Jensen just replies, "I bet."

After their coffee break, they head back to the picnic and spend most of the day apart. Jensen texts Jared the restaurant for their date at around 5 and they meet up again a little later. The place isn’t anything too impressive, just a standard Italian restaurant that Jensen swears makes the best lasagna he’s ever had in his life. Jared still feels woefully unworthy when he sees Jensen looking like a Greek statue in his dark jeans and green button-down shirt.

“Hey,” Jensen says, his face lighting up as soon as his eyes meet Jared’s. “You look amazing.”

“Ditto.” Jared grins and does his best not to laugh when Jensen pulls his chair out for him.

“Dude, did you just Swayze me?” he takes a seat across the table and looks down at his empty plate. “Wow, I just opened a date with a Ghost joke. That’s not a good sign.” He scratches the back of his neck and laughs awkwardly. “I would ask about your day, but I was there.”

Jared feels a smile overwhelm him as he watches Jensen and realizes he’s _nervous_. Because of _Jared_. Because he’s trying to impress him. It’s maybe the least ‘Alpha’  
thing Jared’s ever seen in his life, and the contrast between Jensen’s behavior and the rich, masculine musk across the table makes Jared grin.

“That’s adorable,” he says.

Jensen looks up at him and arches an eyebrow. “What’s adorable?”

“You,” says Jared.

Jensen rolls his eyes, but he smiles too. “Go on. Let’s have this conversation all night.”

“Is that a challenge?” They break, sitting back to make room for their waitress to set down their drinks, and that’s when Jared notices how far they’d both been leaning in. Magnetizing. What, it’s not his fault Jensen smells good enough to induce orgasms. They both order, and Jared waits until the waitress is gone to lean back in. “Because if it’s a challenge, I’ll have to take it.”

Jensen laughs. “It wasn’t a challenge. Though I’ll have to keep that trick in mind. See what kind of embarrassing shit I can trick you into."

"I'd give you some suggestions," says Jared, "but then I'd have to kill you."

"Aw, don't kill me. I've got a family. Loved ones who care. And know I'm on this date. You'll never get away with it."

"Oh, I know." Jared shakes his head. "Danneel texted me half an hour ago."

Jensen sighs. "Goddammit. What'd she say?"

"You don't even want to know where my balls are gonna end up if this date doesn't go well."

"Well, we better make sure it goes well then, huh?"

Jared nods enthusiastically. "I am ever so attached to my balls."

Jensen laughs, then gives Jared a heated look. "You know what's a good way to convince her the date went well? If we go on another one."

Jared grins. "I'll see if I can handle how scary she is more than once. Not sure I can."

"Yeah, she's a little protective." Jared's pretty sure Jensen just won the 'Understatement of the Year' award.

"You don't say," Jared says, taking a sip of his drink. "You'd think I was Lucifer or something."

"For what it's worth, it's not as personal as you think it is."

Jared looks up at him. "What is it, then?"

"Guilt." Jensen bites his bottom lip and looks down at his hands. "I think she feels guilty."

"What for?" Jared pauses just long enough to realize he's an idiot. "If it's okay to ask."

"Ah, something that wasn't really her fault." Jensen waffles back and forth on whether to tell more or not, but finally he says, "We used to be together. It was pretty serious."

Jared's eyes widen. "Whoa," he says. "Mind blown."

Jensen huffs out a laugh.

"Why did you guys—?"

"Break up?" Jared nods. Jensen makes a face that is trying very hard not to be bitter. "Her first knot came along, decided he wanted her back. You know the story."

"God, Jensen, that sucks." And it kind of really does. Jared never really stopped to think that Alphas could get hurt by things like that, too. All you ever hear about are the unlucky Omegas who get dicked around. "I guess I never realized that could go both ways."

"Most people don't."

"Alphas are just so—"

"So what?" Jensen asks, his head snapping up.

"Well, you know. Tough."

"So what, we all just run around and fuck anything that moves just because we can? You think Alphas don't get their hearts broken?" Jensen tilts his head a little to the side as he watches Jared. "I would have thought you of all people would know better than to stereotype like that. Aren't you Omegas all supposed to be scrawny and act like girls?"

Jared frowns. He really didn’t realize what he was saying, and now he's pretty sure he's blown his chance with Jensen forever. And Jensen's right. Jared should have known better. He's always hated people making assumptions about him, and Jensen's one of the few people who genuinely never has. Especially considering the way Jared behaved the first time they met, Jensen could easily have dismissed Jared as a stereotype, and Jared feels awful. "That's not what I meant."

Something in Jared's tone brings Jensen back to the moment, and Jared watches his expression cloud over from angry to calm. "Shit," he says. "I'm sorry. I, uh." He lets out a shaky laugh. "Remember when you told me you get a little defensive about the Omega thing?"

"You get defensive about the Alpha thing." Jared laughs, which makes Jensen smile tentatively. "What a fine couple we'll make."

They make a pretty decent couple, if Jared's anyone to judge, for the rest of dinner. Once they've gotten their insecurities out of the way and have a feel for what they should or should not say, the conversation flows easily. Jensen fills him in on the rest of the Danneel saga—he admits he's mostly over it, that Danneel and her first knot make a much better couple than she had made with Jensen and it just took the guy a little time to figure that out. He's pretty gracious about the whole thing, but Jared can tell it hurt him more than he's letting on.

At the end of the date, Jensen drives Jared home, parks in front of his dorm, and sits back in his seat.

Jared turns to face him. "I had a great time tonight."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Jensen smiles. "That mean you'll come out with me again? Not that I want to see you or anything. I just don't want Danneel to maim you is all."

"Uh huh," Jared says. "Then it's a date."

Jensen smiles and leans in for a chaste kiss. It lasts all of a second, but as soon as Jensen's broken contact, they each get a taste of each other and in moments it's gone from the sweet kiss goodnight to a hot-and-heavy make-out session. Their mouths are biting as much as kissing, Jared hears Jensen growl and it goes straight to his dick. He puts his palm against the fabric over Jensen's knot and Jensen jolts, kissing Jared for only a second longer before he finally manages to stop. His hips grind into Jared's hand, but he puts his palm against Jared's chest and pushes.

"Okay," he says, out of breath. "Stop. Before I lose control."

Jared leers. "Or I could stay."

Jensen laughs, reaching up to muss Jared's hair. "Get out of my car, Padalecki."

Jared smiles, stealing one last peck before opening the door and hurrying out.

They go on three more dates before they decide to make it official. Jensen hosts a movie night at his place, and Jared bakes his best fudge brownies from scratch. They watch the most romantic movie in the history of cinema— _Love Actually_ , and Jared will fight anyone who disagrees—and make sure the crowd is good and sappy before they break the news.

For the most part, their friends are either pleasantly surprised or already figured it out. Everyone is supportive except for Danneel, who calls them both morons and opens another bottle of beer. Jared wasn't really expecting better from her, so he counts the night as a win.

Genevieve prances into Jensen's kitchen while Jared is washing dishes and pans and hops up to sit on the counter. "So that finally happened, huh?"

Jared looks up through his bangs. He tries getting them out of his eyes with a shake of his head, and Genevieve takes pity on him, moving the hair out of his face. "Sure looks that way."

"You're positive this is a good idea?"

Jared lets go of the pan he's scrubbing and cuts the water off. He turns to look at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She raises her hands defensively. "Hey, chill out. I was just asking the necessary concerned-best-friend questions. You know I'm Team Jared and Jensen."

"Yeah, yeah." Jared leans his hip on the counter and bites the inside of his cheek. "I do think it's a good idea. I think we have something."

"A serious something?" Genevieve swings her legs. "I only ask because you're a guy. The pills are only foolproof for us, Jared. Your hormones are stronger, and being around an Alpha all the time, especially in sexual situations and considering that you haven't been—"

"The meds are probably going to wear off. I know, Gen." Jared takes off his rubber dish gloves and sets them by the sink. "I've done some research."

Genevieve takes a deep breath. "And you're willing to risk it?"

"I think so." She raises an eyebrow and Jared laughs. "I know so. I trust him."

She tilts her head, looking him over with a critical eye before nodding and hopping off the counter. "That's all I needed to know," she says before skipping back into the living room.

"If I win the next round," Jared says, "I want a victory blowjob."

"We're playing teams, Jared," Jensen points out, shooting the guy to Jared's right.

"I know," Jared replies. He looks around for someone to shoot, realizes Jensen already got everyone, and takes a quiet few seconds to hate Jensen for being so good at Call of Duty. "Everyone wins, then everyone wins again."

Jensen snorts, shaking his head as their stats begin to pop up on the screen. Jensen's are better, of course. "Good try," he says.

Jared hits the skip button and tries not to look bitter. "Rematch."

Jensen laughs, setting his controller aside. "Kind of tired of video games, Jay."

Jared frowns. "Does that mean you're leaving me? All alone to die here, by myself?"

"Actually," Jensen says, biting his bottom lip, "I've got an early class tomorrow, and with me living off campus, it's such a hassle to make that big commute and all."

Jared kisses him. "Yes, you can stay the night."

Jensen smiles brightly. He hasn't spent the night that many times in the month and a half they've been dating, but they tend to spend most of their nights just like this. They get back from class, one of them calls and invites the other over, then homework, dinner, video games, and some kind of fooling around before bed.

It's really nice and much easier than any of Jared's past relationships, even if Jensen still is kind of nervous around him. They haven't done a whole lot, and Jared gets why, so he does his best not to pressure Jensen. Not that it's easy when everything about his biology aches for Jensen's knot every time they kiss.

Jensen turns the bathroom light out after he finishes brushing his teeth and crawls into bed with Jared. It's a tough squeeze with the small dorm bed, but they've had enough practice to make it work.

He kisses Jared's shoulder as he slides under the covers, then his neck, face, and back to his neck for a lick. "Mmm," he murmurs against the skin, and Jared shudders, his dick twitching with interest.

"Jensen," Jared whines, his voice going up and then coming back down. "You're killing me here."

Jensen keeps working at him with his mouth, though his hand is moving down Jared's bare chest to slip into his boxers. He gropes Jared a little, just a quick teasing brush against his dick before he rolls Jared's balls in one hand.

"You like that?" Jensen asks. He's in full Alpha-mode, Jared can hear it in his tone, and it gets Jared's hopes up. Jensen rarely ever lets himself get like this with Jared. "Getting all wet for me, baby?"

"See for yourself." Jared rocks back, trying to rub his ass against Jensen's cock. "Baby."

Jensen laughs at Jared's attitude, and Jared knows he's right to. He pretends to hate the baby thing because he has to, but Jensen can't help it when he's like this, just like he can't help the way hearing it makes Jared want nothing more than for Jensen to tie him up and breed him.

Jensen's hand finally wraps around the base of Jared's cock, and he goes unbearably slow as he strokes Jared. "Know what you want," he says.

"Knot me," Jared breathes. "Please, Jensen. Please."

Jensen stops jerking Jared off, but he doesn't take his hand away like Jared thinks he will. Instead, he lets his hand travel from Jared's dick to his ass, and Jared hisses when one of Jensen's fingers begins to play with his hole.

"Please, please," he says, getting more desperate. "Yeah, Jensen, come on."

Jensen doesn't reply, just pushes that finger into Jared and starts feeling inside of him. "God, you're wet," says Jensen, resting his cheek against Jared's shoulder blade as he pulls his body closer. "Bet I could slide right in just like that."

Jared nods into his pillow, fucking back on Jensen's finger. "I can take it," he says. Which he's only guessing, really, but who fucking cares right now. "Want to take it so bad."

"Jared," he says, kissing lower on Jared's back as he slips another finger in and starts fucking Jared in earnest. "You smell so good it scares me," he whispers. "Taste so good. Never wanted anyone like this."

If Jared had proper control of his mouth, he'd probably think of something romantic to say. "Are you gonna fuck me?"

Jensen pulls his fingers out and brings his hand up, licking the fingers he'd been pushing into Jared. "Turn over for me."

Jared does, all too happy to comply. Jensen moves to the floor to pull off Jared's boxers and doesn't come back up like he's expecting. Instead, he grabs Jared and tugs him down the bed, and Jared is hopeless to resist. "What are you—?"

"Shh," Jensen whispers. Jared can feel his breath against him, and he thrusts into the bed, so fucking turned on.

Then Jensen pushes his tongue into Jared—there's no hesitance, no warning, nothing but enthusiasm. Jared hears him take a long breath, and before he can get the "yes" out, Jensen's already tongue deep in him, licking at the wetness in Jared like it's the best thing he's ever tasted. Jared's word gets transformed into a loud, needy groan as he arches his body, trying to somehow let Jensen in deeper.

Jensen is a fucking beast with his tongue. Jared knows he got good at this with Danneel, knows he's going to make Jared come without needing to touch his dick again. It sends a hot flash through Jared—shame as well as pleasure, but the shame only makes him feel more flustered and desperate—to think that what Jensen's doing works on him as well as on a girl.

"Jensen," Jared cries. "Oh, fuck. Jensen."

Jensen puts one of his hands on each of Jared's cheeks, spreading him open even more, and dives right back in. Then one hand leaves while the other holds him down, and before long Jared can hear the slap of Jensen's hand on his cock. Jared pictures Jensen's big dick and that perfect knot and tries to imagine it tearing him in half the way Jensen's tongue is.

Jared's a goner. He comes hard, fucking down into the mattress as his dick shoots off and his ass gets even wetter. Jensen stays where he is, keeps eating Jared out until he's gotten every last bit of slick, and then he pulls his face out and rests it on Jared's ass, moaning Jared's name as he finishes.

Jared falls asleep that night feeling very well taken care of.

Despite the fact that Jared gets a bad case of Omega mouth every time he and Jensen so much as kiss, the first time Jared asks for Jensen to knot him is three months after they start dating. The rest of the time his begging is a natural reaction—he means it at the time, but Jensen knows not to take it seriously. Jared would try to stop it and keep his mouth shut if it didn't turn them both on so much.

He thinks about it a lot before he brings it up with Jensen, but he knows it's going to take longer for Jensen to come around to the idea. Jared figures he needs to start working on it as soon as possible.

He waits for commercial break, then says, "Hey, so about you knotting me."

Jensen nearly splurts his beer out, and his eyes go hilariously wide. "Jesus, where did that even come from?"

"The deepest, darkest recesses of my mind." Jared throws in wiggling fingers just for fun, then drops his hand into his lap as the commercial break ends. "Seriously, though, when's it gonna happen?"

"I don't know, Jared," Jensen answers. He has one arm draped around the back of the couch, fingers playing idly with the hair on the back of Jared's neck. He keeps his eyes fixed on the football game they're watching, but Jared can tell Jensen's putting effort into looking calm. Jensen's scared by the question, but he's excited, too. Jared can smell it.

He curls even closer into Jensen. "But we are going to, right?"

"Haven't given it much thought," Jensen says, which is a filthy lie and they both know it. "Can we talk about this another time?"

Jared reaches over for the remote, hesitating before turning off the game. Jensen opens his mouth to protest but holds back when he sees the glare Jared's aiming at him. It's not a game either of them cares a whole lot about, and Jared has a feeling Jensen's going to find an excuse any time Jared tries to talk about this.

"I'm serious." Jared sits up. "I want to get this out right now—not while I'm turned on, not while I'm in heat. Someday, yes. I want to go off my meds and spend a week getting fucked stupid by you, don't you doubt it. But right now I'm completely in control, and I think you should know that I'm ready. More than ready."

Jared licks his lips, looking away, hoping Jensen will understand and he won't need to elaborate. It's embarrassing enough to have a biological clock, especially one that goes off when he's practically still a freaking kid, and it's only insult to injury since the damn thing is useless.

Jensen does get it. His lips turn down, and he puts his hand high on Jared's thigh, squeezing supportively. "Is it really bad?" he asks.

"Unbearable," Jared admits.

"I know you need it, Jay. I'm just terrified to be the first one who does it."

"I know," says Jared. "But you're the only person I want to do it. I've been attracted to exactly two Alphas in my life, and the first one doesn't count. I wasn't in my right mind." Jared cups Jensen's face and leans in for a kiss. "Now I am."

"But you weren't the first time I met you. What if, I don't know. What if just smelling me mixed you up or something?"

Jared laughs. "Jensen, do you even own a mirror? How do you think I don't want to fuck you?"

"Don't change the subject," Jensen says with a tiny smile.

"I've smelled a lot of Alphas, and yeah, something about your scent is better, I'll give you that. But I also like you, genuinely. We know each other. I care about you. I know it'll be special with you, and I know it probably won't be with anyone else."

"But what if we break up," Jensen says. "What then?"

"Then?" Jared shrugs. "After what you did to protect me the first night we met? After the way you stopped yourself? There isn't anyone in the world I trust more than you to be my first knot—whether we stay together or not. I know you won't come back and fuck up my life just to prove you can. If I have to be hooked on someone's scent—and I do—I want it to be yours."

Jensen whines, turning his face into Jared's shoulder. "You know you're very hard to argue with, right?"

Jared laughs. "It's because I'm so cute."

"Is that why?" Jensen asks. "Thanks for explaining."

"Oh, anytime."

Jensen snorts, giving Jared an affectionate shove. "You too, for what it's worth."

"Me too what?"

"Your smell. I've never been so drawn to another Omega. I don't know what it is about you. I thought I was going to explode when you were in heat, it was just so much."

Jared smiles. "Maybe it's cause we're soul mates."

Jensen pretends to lean off the couch and throw up, and Jared laughs.

"Really though. Look at me." Jensen does, meeting Jared's eyes like he's a little nervous Jared's going to ask for too much. Jensen probably wouldn't be able to say no if he did, but that's not how Jared wants this to happen. Not the first time, at least. "When I'm with you, I'm proud to be an Omega. Because I get to be _your_ Omega. You don't know how good this is for me."

Jensen smiles and kisses Jared, and Jared decides that's enough sharing and caring for the night. He turns the football back on.

"Shale," Misha says, holding up a picture. "Sedimentary or metamorphic?"

Jared stares at it, blinking until he can focus. They’ve been at this for hours, and he's about to fall asleep in Misha's lap, even if he does smell like Cheetos. "Sedimentary."

"Good!" Misha holds up another card. "Garnet. Igneous or sedimentary?"

"Trick question," Jared says with a yawn. "It's metamorphic. Look, clearly I know this shit. Can I please go?"

Misha shakes his head, smiling like the sick megalomaniac he is as he holds up yet another goddamn rock picture.

"Jesus, how many of those do you have?"

"Enough," says Misha. "Come on, I'm trying to help you here. Do you want to pass this exam or what?"

"Right now? Right now I'm so tired of geology I'd rather crack my head on these rocks than continue classifying them."

Misha gives him an unimpressed look and points to the picture in his hand. "Metamorphic or Igneous?"

"You haven't even told me what it is yet."

"I thought you knew this shit?" Jared groans and Misha laughs. "So figure it out, genius."

Jared drops his head into his notebook and mumbles, "I have no idea. I quit."

"Oh, looking gneiss." Jared raises his head to glare at Jensen, who's clearly very proud of himself. "Gneiss? Nice? Get it?"

"I get it." Jared turns to Misha. "Gneiss is metamorphic," he says before focusing on Jensen again. "And we are over forever because you made that joke."

"Aww, cheer up," Jensen says, sliding onto the bench next to Jared. "Geology rocks."

Jared narrows his eyes. "That hasn't been funny since—"

"The stone age?" Misha offers.

Jensen snorts.

"I hate you both."

Jensen pouts, which is distracting enough, and then he lifts a cup of Starbucks and waves it in front of Jared. "So I guess you don't want this delicious peppermint mocha I brought you."

Jared makes grabby hands at him, and Jensen pulls the cup just out of his reach.

"Please, Jensen, oh, please. I'll do anything."

Jensen snorts. "I hear that from you a lot, but so far, I'm seeing no results."

"Over share," says Misha.

Jared ignores him. "I'll suck your dick for that coffee. No, seriously. Right here. I'm looking for a distraction."

Misha waves a rock picture in Jared's face. "Seriously, I can hear you."

Jensen makes a cheerful sound as he takes a long sip from _Jared's drink_. "Mmm, god, this is good."

"I'll fuck you," Jared says, leaning in to whisper. "Tonight. I will rock your world."

"Heh. Rock," Jensen replies.

Jared considers throttling him for the caffeine, but he resists the impulse. He still has a few tricks up his sleeve. "I'll let you fuck me."

Jensen nearly chokes on the coffee in his mouth. He swallows hard and then gives Jared a flat look. "Cheater."

"I'm a desperate man."

"How about a kiss?" Jensen bats his eyes innocently, offering Jared a cheek.

"Should have just said so." Jared leans in, kissing the cheek, then turns Jensen's face toward him to catch his mouth.

Jensen's smiling when he pulls away. He slides the drink until it's sitting in front of Jared, and Jared practically attacks it.

"What are you up to today?" Misha asks Jensen.

"Waiting for Danneel and Steve to show up. We're gonna go see a movie."

"And you chose this as a meeting place? Why?" Jared licks whipped cream off his lip. "To rub it in?"

"To bring my little bookworm refreshments, of course." Jensen's smiling like he came to rub it in, though.

"You are a terrible person," Jared mutters. He takes another sip and secretly adores everything about Jensen, because this is exactly what he needed.

Jensen pokes him in the side. "You bet your sweet ass I am."

"And again," Misha says, "there are three of us here. One of us does not want to know."

Jared's head snaps up. "Hey, wait a minute. How does _he_ know I have a sweet ass?"

"You know how we girls are," says Jensen. "We share everything."

"Don't worry," Misha adds, reaching out to pat Jared's hand. "You're a 7 out of 10. Just above average."

"Is that a joke?" He turns to Jensen. "That'd better be a joke."

"It's a joke," Jensen assures him.

"Like your face," Jared mutters.

"Aw, baby." Jensen rubs him on the back. "Are you even less clever than usual when you're tired?"

"I'll bash your head in." Jared picks up one of the pictures on the table. "I know all about which rocks are most effective now."

"I tremble in fear," Jensen says.

The conversation is interrupted then by a hard kick to the back of their bench. Jared turns to see a blonde guy smiling down at him and Jensen with his arm around Danneel. "Hey, fuckface, let's go."

Jared takes in the oddly cheerful look on Danneel's face and figures this must be her boyfriend, Steve. He's not what Jared was expecting, but Jared's eager enough to make a good impression. He stands and holds his hand out. "Hey, I'm Jared. It's great to finally meet you."

Steve takes a step forward as soon as Jared stands up, and his eyes go dark. Jared realizes his mistake a moment too late. Steve takes in a deep breath. "Jesus," he says, turning to look at Jensen. "You know he's about to—"

"Don't you worry about him," Jensen says, standing up and stepping between them. Jared sees Jensen's hand already curling into a fist, and Jared grabs it, trying to smooth it out.

Jensen keeps his eyes on Steve's, and Steve bites his lip. "Look, I'm not trying to cause trouble here. It's just kind of difficult when—"

Jensen growls. Steve takes another deep breath and shakes his head, giving Jared an apologetic wave before leaving to stand a few feet away. Danneel follows after him, turning to send a furious glance in Jared's direction. He swallows a lump; the last time she looked that ready to claw his eyes out, he was 17 years old.

"Why don't you guys go ahead to the movie so we can finish up here?" Jared asks, hoping to pacify Jensen. 

Jensen grabs him and kisses him, hard and possessive, and Jared can smell him getting worked up. It's fucking torture. Jared really is doing his best to keep his hormones in check, but it's getting damn near impossible.

Finally Jensen pulls away, nodding slowly. "Yeah. Okay. Right. You study."

"I'll do that," Jared promises.

"Later, though," Jensen says heatedly. "Later you're gonna fuck me until we pass out."

Misha sighs dramatically. Jared laughs, smacking Jensen's ass as he takes off to catch up with Steve and Danneel.

It's six months before Jensen gives in, which isn’t long for a relationship, but it's endless for an Alpha-Omega couple, especially when half of the couple is 20 years old and still untied. Jared's body is going haywire, his hormones so desperate for a knotting that even his meds are starting to falter.

This of course makes shit hit the fan.

All Jared is trying to do is get his mail, and before he knows what's going on, someone's pushed up against his back, shoving him into the mailboxes. Jared drops the envelopes in his hands and moans, smelling the guy behind him. It's an Alpha—he doesn't know the guy, but Jared can smell how turned on he is, and his hormones are enough out of whack that instead of shoving him away, Jared arches back. He's getting wet. Fuck.

"Hey," the Alpha whispers. "What's a pretty thing like you doing walking around smelling like that?"

"Please let go," Jared begs. He knows the Alpha won't, and it's not even this guy's fault. He can't help it, and pretty soon Jared's not going to be able to help it either.

"I don't think you want that," he says. He turns Jared around so Jared is facing him, and Jared lets him lead. "I know exactly what you want."

He moves forward, licking Jared's neck, and Jared's head falls back, giving him better access. The guy is pushed up against him, his smell and the bulge in his pants pressing too close to Jared for Jared to think. He reaches for Jared's belt buckle, and Jared whispers "yes."

"Gonna open those pretty legs up for me, aren't you?" The Alpha pushes him harder against the mailboxes, and Jared is so there, so ready to skip to the part where he's got his legs wrapped around, this Alpha strong enough to hold him up, and God, he's gonna get knotted, it's all he wants.

"Yeah," Jared says. "Please."

"You're a good bitch," the guy says. "Surprised no one's taken care of you." He smiles. "I'm gonna, sweetheart, don't you worry."

Jared nods, and the Alpha leans up and kisses him and even now, it feels wrong, but Jared can't remember why. He turns his face away. "Just fuck me," he says. "Please, just fuck me already."

The Alpha is unzipping his pants, pulling out his knot and, shit, it's beautiful, Jared wants to get on his knees and worship it.

He doesn't get the chance. Before the Alpha gets to slide into him, he's torn away, thrown on the floor across the mailroom, and Jared sees Jensen standing between them.

"You back the fuck off," he says to the guy, who's curled up on the floor, looking up in shock. "He's mine."

The other Alpha shakes his head. "He doesn't smell like it."

Jensen leaps forward, growling, and Jared can tell he's about to attack the guy. Jared's brain is really not being helped by this— _two_ Alphas, both in full Alpha mode, the scent of their hormones choking the air out of the room. Jared's pretty sure that between the three of them, even a Beta could smell that something is off.

Still, Jared runs forward, grabbing Jensen's shoulder and hauling him back. "Jensen, stop."

Jensen watches the guy darkly. "Get the fuck out of here. If you try to touch him again, I'll kill you."

The Alpha scrambles to his feet and tucks his dick back into his jeans."You can't blame me for making the mistake," he says, and in a way, he's right. "You oughta do your bitch a favor and mark your fucking territory."

He runs out then, chased by another growl from Jensen.

They stand in silence for a few minutes, staring at each other. Jensen still looks angry, but when Jared speaks, his expression melts.

"I couldn't stop it," Jared says. "I'm sorry, Jen, I couldn't."

"I know," Jensen says. "I could smell you from the front lobby. You're…Jesus, it's almost like the first time."

Jared nods.

"You didn't tell me it was getting that bad."

"I didn't know how bad it was. I sure as hell didn't think that would happen."

Jensen looks to the door, his hand curling into a fist. "You should have let me kick his ass."

"He couldn't help it anymore than I could," Jared steps forward, taking Jensen's hand, "I hate when you get like this."

"Like what?" Jensen snaps.

"Violent," says Jared, which makes Jensen deflate immediately.

He stands quietly, eyes on the floor, for a long time before he says, "Me too. But I can’t help it, either."

Jared hesitates, then pulls Jensen in close, whispering into his ear. "This is just going to keep happening, Jensen. Until you knot me, this is gonna keep happening."

Jensen grabs Jared's wrist very suddenly with a force Jared's never felt from him before. "Let's go," he says.

"Where?" Jared asks, but before Jensen answers, he's following. Blindly. Which means—Jensen is in control of him and not fighting it.

"Upstairs," he says. "Bed."

The elevator ride is the longest of Jared's life. They can't touch; they'll never leave the elevator if they do. So they stand apart, except for Jensen's fingers around Jared's wrist, centering him, reminding him who he belongs to. 

As soon as they're in Jared's room, Jensen slams the door, locking it behind him. "Your roommate's not coming home tonight."

It's not a question so much as a statement, and Jared is okay with that. Chad's sexiled him without warning enough times that Jared is really not about to care. Not when the implication is that he will be too busy getting his brain fucked out to make a phone call.

Jared nods, because he can't disagree with anything Jensen says right now, and he likes it.

"Clothes off," Jensen says.

Jared starts to undress. "How do you want me?"

Jensen groans. "Fuck, Jared." He watches until Jared's completely naked, then steps forward. Jared thinks he's about to get a kiss, but instead he gets a rough push to the chest and falls back onto his bed. "On your back for me," he says. "Just for me."

Jared nods, spreading his legs. "Jensen," he gasps. "Jensen, please."

Jensen starts stripping, rushed, and Jared nearly faints as his smell gets stronger, no longer trapped by fabric. He thrusts up into the air at nothing, and Jensen chuckles.

"You ready for me, baby?"

All the guys he's been in relationships with have loved this about him. Even though they were all Betas, they took some kind of cocky pride in how wet Jared got for them, the fact that they could just slide into him, how easily stimulated he is. Jared enjoys fucking plenty, Jensen hasn't made a priest out of him, but even with the cockiest Betas, the ones who were obviously just with him to convince themselves they were as good as any Alpha, Jared couldn't help how much he loves a cock in his ass. He hasn't ever learned to front, never held onto his shame long enough to stop himself from begging like the bitch he is once he's actually got a dick in him. So it has been too, too long, and Jared knows this is going to be a thousand times better than anything before.

So yeah. He's ready. He was made for this, for chrissakes.

Jensen waits for the nod before climbing onto Jared's bed, his dick bulging out. Jared gets only a second's glance at his knot before he's whimpering.

"Tell me what you want," Jensen tells him.

"Whatever you want," Jared answers, like a good little Omega.

Jensen growls. "I said tell me," he replies, leaning in and licking Jared. His mouth is on Jared's skin when he adds, "That's an order."

What comes out of his mouth after that is a chorus of "fuck me, fuck me, fuck me." He doesn't even say please.

Jensen gets his fingers in Jared's hair and tugs hard. Jared lets out a shocked whine. "You're mine, Jared. You got that? Mine. Only mine." He puts the head of his dick to Jared's hole and Jared digs the heels of his feet into the mattress, still begging. "And everyone is going to know it."

The first push of Jensen's cock nearly knocks Jared out. It's so big—it's even bigger than he imagined, bigger than the knotted dildos Jared's had to use since the first night he met Jensen. It fills up every bit of empty space inside of Jared, and Jared's pretty sure it should stay right there forever.

He's kind of giddy at the thought that, at least for the next hour or so, it will.

And—jesus. This is actually happening. Jared has finally gotten this over with, he's not going to have to be terrified he'll forget to take his pills or that his body will just reject them and he'll end up getting fucked and left out to dry. Jensen—it's the only name he knows right now and the only one he wants to—Jensen owns him.

It's pretty embarrassing how fast Jared comes the first time, though he knew it would happen and Jensen doesn't make fun of him, just leans in as he starts to fuck Jared. "Got that over with," he says with a shaky laugh. "Now I'm gonna really get you there."

Jared doesn't doubt it. Every time Jensen rocks into him, he hits every nerve ending in Jared's body, like a kid playing with elevator buttons.

"So wet," Jensen gasps after one particularly deep thrust. He stops just to feel Jared spasming around him and hides his face in Jared's neck, sniffing him. "Never felt anything like it, Jesus. Jared. Fuck. You’re so fucking good."

He picks up again after that, shoving harder into Jared. Jared knows when Jensen's close because Jensen suddenly kicks up the Alpha, grabbing Jared's fists and pushing him down into the mattress. Jared's just surprised they haven't fucked through the mattress _and_ the floor yet.

"You ready, Jay?" he asks. "Gonna breed you. Gonna fill you up until you can fucking taste me."

Whatever Jared says, it must sound like yes, because he feels the warm wash of Jensen's come inside of him, so much in the first moment, like floodgates opening. Jared screams, wrapping his legs around Jensen and forcing him deeper with his feet on Jensen's ass. Jensen's thrusts turn shallow, but he's still coming hard and the base of his cock is still swollen so Jared can't get any relief. He realizes he's started crying.

It's not completely unexpected, he knows most Omegas have this reaction their first time. Their bodies just can't handle the excess of sensation, but he sort of thought he wouldn't. Then again, he didn't really know _what_ to expect, so there's that.

Jared expects it to get boring after Jensen's done, expects them to spend the rest of the time lying there recovering. That's what usually happens in movies, at least, and it makes good sense to Jared. But Jensen keeps right up, his energy unrelenting, and he fucks away at Jared so good that Jared comes again and then Jensen draws it out, going nice and slow, so that Jared manages to come one more time before he finally starts to feel Jensen's knot letting up.

Jared lets Jensen pull out before turning onto his side to stare. It's true what they say about your first knot; Jensen looks different, looks like he's glowing, even though he isn't. It's amazing, and Jared feels so light he could float up and hit the ceiling.

"You're the devil for holding out on me," he says.

Jensen smiles quietly, his eyes closed. Jared kind of hates that it won't be the same for Jensen. When he opens his eyes and looks at Jared, all he's going to see is the same kid he's been fooling around with for months.

Jensen must see something in Jared's eye, because the sleepy, content expression falls right off his face as soon as he looks at Jared. "What's wrong?" he asks. He sits up. "You don't—"

"No, Jensen, I don't regret it," Jared says, pressing a reassuring kiss against Jensen's mouth. "I just…wish I had something to offer you."

Jensen's eyebrows draw together. "What do you mean?"

"You know, my body, like, hurts it wants to give you a baby so bad." Jared looks down at his hands. "I mean, not now obviously, but someday. Already, all my instincts are telling me to make a house with you and a family and…"

"Jay," Jensen says softly. "Come here."

Jared frowns, but he takes the spot Jensen offers in his arms. "I'm a freak of nature," he says. "And I'm defective."

"You are not defective."

"I'm a baby factory that can't make babies. I'm worthless."

"Hey," Jensen snaps. "Don't talk like that, okay?"

"You'd be better off with a girl."

Jensen laughs. "Nobody warns about this part," he says. "I was just expecting a nice long night of cuddling and maybe more sex."

Jared slaps his chest. "It’s not my fault. You're the one who pissed off my nonexistent uterus."

"I pissed it off with my penis," Jensen says cheerfully, which makes Jared roll his eyes, but he can't help smirking a little. Jensen wraps an arm tight around Jared and kisses the top of his head. "Let's be happy right now," Jensen says. "And worry about the future in the future."

"But Je—"

"Shut up," Jensen says. "If I wanted a girl, I'd be with one. We'll worry about building a family when we get there, if we get there. Until then, let's just be stupid kids in love?"

"Are we stupid kids in love?" Jared asks, lifting his head from Jensen's chest to look Jensen in the eye.

Jensen grins wickedly. "Well, you've clearly got the stupid covered, so I'll take care of the rest."

Jared smacks Jensen and lies back down, hiding his smile against Jensen's bare skin.

**End.**


End file.
